It will be seen from the foregoing that three of the four Serpent dates above described are counted from the date 9 Kan 12 Kayab, a date actually recorded in the text just above them. The all-important question of course is, What position did the date 9 Kan 12 Kayab occupy in the Long Count? The page (62) of the Dresden Codex we {275} are discussing sheds no light on this question. There are, however, two other pages in this Codex (61 and 69) on which Serpent numbers appear presenting this date, 9 Kan 12 Kayab, under conditions which may shed light on the position it held in the Long Count. On page 69 there are recorded 15 katuns, 9 tuns, 4 uinals, and 4 kins (see fig. 85); these are immediately followed by the date 9 Kan 12 Kayab. It is important to note in this connection that, unlike almost every other number in this codex, this number is expressed by the first method, the one in which the period glyphs are used. As the date 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu appears just above in the text, the first supposition is that 15.9.4.4 is a Secondary-series number which, if counted forward from 4 Ahau 8 Cumhu, the starting point of Maya chronology, will reach 9 Kan 12 Kayab, the date recorded immediately after it. Proceeding on this assumption and performing the operations indicated, the terminal date reached will be 9 Kan 7 Cumhu, not 9 Kan 12 Kayab, as recorded. The most plausible explanation for this number and date the writer can offer is that the whole constitutes a Period-ending date. On the west side of Stela C at Quirigua, as explained on page 226, is a Period-ending date almost exactly like this (see pl. 21, _H_). On this monument 17.5.0.0 6 Ahau 13 Kayab is recorded, and it was proved by calculation that 9.17.5.0.0 would lead to this date if counted forward from the starting point of Maya chronology. In effect, then, this 17.5.0.0 6 Ahau 13 Kayab was a Period-ending date, declaring that Tun 5 of Katun 17 (of Cycle 9, unexpressed) ended on the date 6 Ahau 13 Kayab.